Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Chapter 48 - Space Invaders

"What do you mean, no exit?" Brian said, scowling. Maybe I can get Jessica to force me awake or something.

That may not be a good idea, Brian. The new chip is deeply linked to your subconscious mind. Breaking you out of it by force could do permanent damage.

Brian groaned. So, I'm stuck here.

"You have failed the first challenge, human."

Brian was about to ask what that meant when something shifted under his feet, and the room seemed to shoot up, as he felt a strange sensation in his stomach. Before he had even realized he was falling, he landed heavily on something solid. He was surrounded by blackness. "Where am I?" he said, carefully getting to his feet.

The hole he had fallen through cast a pale light from above, and as Brian's eyes adjusted, he could make out dim shapes, spread evenly around the room. They appeared to be some sort of furniture.

"You will now select your next challenge."

As Dead-Zed spoke, the dark forms began to emit bright light, and the room filled with beeps, chimes, and musical tones.
Brian jumped at the sudden sensory overload. It took him a moment to make sense of his surroundings. He stood turning in place, taking in the site. He was in the center of a vintage video arcade.

"I'm supposed to pick a game?" Brian said, blinking.

That is what the expired alien said.

Frowning, Brian began to walk through the arcade, scanning the game cabinets. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Joust—all games from the late '70s or '80s. Many he didn't recognize. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. There, in a far corner, behind Frogger and Q*bert—Space Invaders.

It was a simple fixed shooter game, where the player controlled a cannon at the bottom of the screen that could move left and right, shooting at wave after wave of gradually approaching aliens while trying to avoid getting destroyed by enemy fire.

He had played this game a lot as a kid. Aunt Carol had put a Space Invaders arcade system in his room. And since he was often hard up for entertainment at the time, he had actually gotten pretty good at it. If he had to perform well in a video game, this was his best shot.

Brian approached the game cabinet and looked it over. It had a classic-style joystick and three big buttons, one white, and two red. The white button was helpfully labeled, "FIRE BUTTON," and the other two were for selecting the number of players.

Brian looked at the screen:

HI-SCORE: 6100

< 1 OR 2 PLAYERS >

CREDIT: 1

Brian grasped the joystick in his left hand, moving it left and right to test the feel of it, and pressed the fire button a few times for practice.

"Excellent choice, human. Now you must beat my high score in order to win the challenge."

Brian tried to remember what his highest score had been. He was pretty sure he had beaten 6100 before, but that had been years ago. And with only 10 to 30 points awarded per kill, this wasn't going to be a cakewalk. Additionally, the screen indicated that he had 1 credit, which meant he would only be getting one shot at this.

Brian took a deep breath. Okay, here we go, he thought.

Good luck, Brian.

Thanks, TV.

He smacked the "1 Player" button, and five rows of aliens began steadily advancing from top to bottom.

Brian maneuvered the cannon back and forth at the bottom of the screen, firing and dodging enemy fire. As Brian successfully destroyed each enemy, the other aliens in that wave began to move more quickly, increasing the urgency to kill the remaining invaders.

Brian successfully destroyed all the aliens in the first wave, and the next wave began its gradual approach.

* * *

A military Humvee pulled up next to the satellite truck. Several men piled out and began clearing debris from the explosion.

"Now what?" Ralph said, staring out the window of the police cruiser. Watkins had left Ralph and Dale alone in the back seat while he helped set up the satellite equipment.

"We wait," Dale said.

Groaning, Ralph leaned his head against the window, watching Jim pull a black cable from the gas station toward the sat truck. He then opened a small door on the side of the rig and connected the cable there. He gave a thumbs-up signal to someone inside the truck.

Oh snap, Ralph thought, they must be back online, now.

Moments later, Jim began waving his arms frantically. Ralph cocked his head. What was that about? Wait a minute. Was the truck moving? It was! It was pulling away.

"Dale, look!" Ralph said, pointing at the moving truck. As he spoke, the cable turned taut and snapped. The truck was now dragging thirty or more feet of the cable as it picked up speed. Jim and the other men scrambled to the Humvee and began to give chase.

"Whoa!" Ralph shouted, as the sat truck, and then the military vehicle, rumbled by the cruiser. Something was odd about how the Humvee was moving. And then he saw it. "The tires are all flat!"

Ralph looked over at Dale, pointing frantically. "Are you seeing this?"

Dale smirked. "It's about time."